I went to a pretty awesome high school, not going to lie, but there is still this obvious truth that plagues basically everybody unless they attended high school at Pacific Coast Academy: high school was simply NOT like the way it was portrayed on "Zoey 101." Not even close.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was a TV show with made-up situations and characters, but there were still a few elements of "high school life" as shown by Zoey and her friends that are just unattainable if we were comparing them to real high schools.
First of all, when I was in high school, my peers and I actually went to class--there was no way you could expect to do well without sitting down at a desk with your dearly beloved notebook, pencils and (free) textbooks in front of a chalkboard while actually paying attention. It's mesmerizing how I always saw the characters playing pool in the lounge, drinking endless amounts of Blix, enjoying lunch outside in the cool California breeze or pulling some stunt that would've gotten you thrown out on your ass if you did that at your school. It's like another world over there. Even Hogwarts gave you more face time with its classes. I can probably count the number of times you actually saw the door of a classroom on that show on just my two hands (out of how many seasons?).
It seems like the characters on the show saw the side of a pool more often than they saw their own textbooks. Sunbathing on rooftops definitely was not allowed in high school. I dorm in college right now, and even we aren't allowed to do anything on rooftops, much less lie in a bathing suit and soak up the sun. And even if we were, the current weather just isn't swimsuit-friendly (shoutout to the Northeasterners who have barely seen 70 degrees almost halfway through May). Most colleges, and I'm sure most boarding schools, have strict rules about access to certain areas of the school.
While we're still on the topic of academics, the reality of the daily importance of school work, studying, and blah, blah, blah were significantly downplayed on the show. We have to study to get good grades to improve our chances of getting into our dream college. Zoey and her friends made their biggest problems be about playing matchmaker for pretty much everyone around them. At some point in high school, you didn't give two craps about anyone who wasn't you -- sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do.
By the way, adults in a position of authority definitely aren't as submissive as they're portrayed on the show. A casual conversation and a sweet smile aimed at your dean will never be enough to make your disciplinary troubles go away. Rules are rules (except at PCA, of course).
Most of us didn't have "perfect" high school experiences--there were always ups and downs--but some of us still love what we got to experience at high school, though we'll probably always be low-key salty that we didn't have that "Zoey 101" experience!
